Austrian Group

In July a group from Austria spent 15 days visiting the Holy Land. This group consisting of 41 participants enjoyed a varied example of all that Israel has to offer.

Starting off in the lower Galilee the group visited Mount Arbel with its beautiful views of the surrounding area, this was followed by a visit to Capernaum which is known as Jesus’ own town with its ancient synagogue where Jesus taught. Then on to the archaeological site of Korazim and on further north to Gamla situated in the western Golan Heights. Gamla was a Jewish city founded in Hasmoneon times and is often referred to as the Masada of the North.

After leaving the Golan the group visited the Yardenit baptism site and spent some team time at the Sea of Galilee. After that they spent an interesting time at Banias (Caesarea Philippi) and saw a film about the Yom Kippur War at Kibbutz El Rom.

In Nazareth the group spent some time visiting with the Greek Orthodox Priest, Father Gabriel Nadaf. They then travelled to Haifa to the traditional site of Muhraka where Elijah faced off against the prophets of Baal. They also went to the Beit Shean archaeological site to view the Sound and Light presentation.

The group had time for an informative visit to the Atlit immigration museum as well as the Hagana museum and then spent time in Tel Aviv as well as the ancient port city of Jaffa.

During their time in Jerusalem they drove around the old city, visited the Western Wall and other interesting places, they also toured the New parts of Jerusalem visiting most of the important sites including Yad Vashem, Holocaust memorial, City of David, the Mount of Olives, the Garden Tomb and the Israel Museum.

Their trip to the Holy Land was completed in the South of Israel where they bathed in the Dead Sea, visited Ein Gedi and Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and Masada as well as experiencing an overnight stay at a Desert camp.